Keyblade Adventures
by Animelover133
Summary: REWRITTEN Hayner and Seifer's groups have noticed interesting and odd things going on in Twilight Town. Now they will go on an unexpected journey that will bring them into new worlds! Many yaoi pairings in here.
1. Chapter 1

**Alright, I rewrote this. I'm gonna start this off slower, so don't expect me to update quickly. **

**Enjoy~**

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts.**

* * *

_I was unable to run fast enough. That had to be the only explanation for all of this. Or maybe it was my own, foolish clumsiness. Or my stupidity…there was a good one. All I knew or cared about right now was to go faster, to run as quickly as I could. I had to get to him…to Seifer. Yet, even in the back of my mind, I knew I wasn't going to make it in time to save him._

_I kept a vigilant eye on the handsome man, and it was clear that he was exhausted. More dark portals were opening, allowing more dark creatures to come. Shit. I tried to run even faster, my muscles burning from the exertion I was putting on them. But then something else occurred that nearly made me stop in my tracks._

_There, in the sky, hung the large heart-shaped eclipse of what had been Kingdom Hearts. That's when it suddenly seemed to twitch to life in the air, and thousands upon thousands of yellow eyes appeared, staring down on Seifer and I as their only victims. A moment later, those very eyes vanished…then began to pour out of Kingdom Hearts like a waterfall, emerging from the darkness. I panicked as they caught sight of Seifer as he continued to fight the Heartless, too distracted to see what I had seen._

"Seifer! Look out!"

* * *

I jolted awake, my heart pounding as I sat up on the couch. Putting a hand to my chest, I tried to breathe, to relax, while still reaching for the memories of my dream as it started to disappear from my mind. I was able to catch a wisp of it, but it slipped from my grasp. I sighed, my heart still beating against my ribs. What had happened in my dream – my nightmare – for my heart to beat so quickly?

I sat there in the Usual Spot, letting my racing heart calm down while desperately reaching for even a single remembrance of what my horrid dream had been…

Nothing.

"There you are, Hayner!" I flinched and turned my head to see Olette, my only girl friend (not girlfriend, there's a difference), sticking her head in. She frowned and stomped into the Usual Place, hands on her hips. "Roxas and I have been looking everywhere for you, darn it!" she scolded.

I rolled my eyes and laid back down onto the couch, stretching lazily, my heartbeat now normal. She gave a sigh of defeat, then pulled out her phone.

"I'm calling Roxas to-"

"Already here." my best friend said, walking smoothly in.

Olette gave him a look, then nodded to me. I waved back.

"He refuses to get up, Roxas. You persuade him; he won't listen to me." She shot me a dirty look. "He's too stubborn."

"No, he's just gotten lazier than me. Come on, man. We gotta go." I closed my eyes and pretended not to listen. "Get up, Hayner. Seifer's pissed that we're already twenty minutes late, and he's even more pissed that you're the cause of it." he pointed out.

"Maybe if he got that stick out of his ass…" I sneered.

"Oh? Says the one who's desperately _in love_ with the guy, I believe you can't say anything in your own defense for this one." Roxas smirked.

I shot up from the couch, my face growing warm. "Shut up! It's not like that!"

"Sure. I'll believe that when I'm dead." He grabbed my arm, then proceeded to escort (read: forced) me out of the Usual Spot. "Now let's _go_."

I groaned, but allowed him to drag me through the Alleyway, heading towards the Marketplace, where we would go to the entrance to the Woods. I couldn't wait…

Ugh.

* * *

Before you even start to tease and laugh about me supposedly being "in love" with Seifer, it's all a lie. I _do not_ like the prick, nor do I _love_ him. I hate his guts, and he returns the feeling back to me. It's a great rival hatred that we share and…

Don't give me that look…I know you don't believe me, but it's…

Ugh, alright! It's not true! I'm, sadly, in love with the stupid guy, okay? Happy now? But what I said about the hating me part…that's true. For some strange reason, I just seem to rub him the wrong way, no matter what I do. I could be his damned _slave_ and he would still despise me more than the dirt he walks on.

I mean, have you _seen_ those icy blue eyes of his? Sure, they look at me with pure hatred, but still. And he has a nice assortment of muscle, and he definitely likes to show it off. If he wasn't so hostile towards me, we wouldn't be butting heads. Just once, I want to be friends instead of having a feud over everything. My friends understood that, but not at first.

My friends, they've known for a while. I was practically killed with a Struggle bat by Olette until I slipped my secret to them .And if you thought that girl wasn't any scarier…

But my bonehead best friends are completely fine with the whole thing, and they've even tried to get the two of us in the most awkward of situation. Example: they got Roxas to trip me at the Struggle Tournament, which ended up with me sprawled all over Seifer's chest. He has quite a muscular chest…

But I'm serious. My friends can be such assholes sometimes. Roxas is your typical blonde, with blue eyes and a sassy attitude. Olette is a bookworm smarty pants, and pretty to boot, too. Got nice brunette hair and all that, but she's always trying to get me to do my homework. It can get annoying sometimes, just saying. I have one other friend whose name is Pence. He's a food addict, which leaves him on the big side, and he's really superstitious. But he's cool to hang out with, and he can be smart when he wants to be.

As for Seifer and his gang, they're actually really awesome. When we first met, our two groups clashed heads. But time went by, things calmed down. Roxas began to hang out with Seifer's group, and things went from there. We slowly opened up to each other, and we all turned into one huge group of friends. Fuu and Rai, who are both really weird, started to talk to me. We went and had ice cream together, sat around and talked, went to the beach; it was great. And now, even they know about my feelings towards their leader.

But…Seifer refuses to warm up to me, even now. He'll talk to everyone else, but he clams up and glares at me the moment I even try to initiate conversation. I wonder if he imagines a Struggle bat going through my head when he sees me, or maybe dreams of something worse to happen to me. I can never tell with that mask of his always on. Still, I can't hate the guy…though, sometimes, I wish I could punch him in the face for being such a major dick to me all the time. Nothing has changed between us.

* * *

The Woods was nothing more than a small area of trees that seemed to grow together as one whole wall. I never liked the Woods; the darkness always seemed to be growing and moving in this place. I made sure to take the lead when we had gotten there, and now dragged Roxas behind me.

"Dude, chill out. Are you that excited to see your "True Love"?" Roxas joked, laughing.

"Shut up." I countered lamely, ignoring the giggles from Olette.

We continued on, getting deeper in. Then, the trees opened up, revealing the gates hiding a destroyed mansion: the Haunted Mansion, as the residents of Twilight Town liked to call it. I remembered when, last year, Olette had forced the four of us – Pence, Olette, Roxas and I – to do our stupid report on the thing. Pence, being the superstitious weirdo that he is, helped us with the rest. Of course, Seifer and his gang decided to copy us, but whatever.

Seifer was standing in front of the rusted gates, arms folded while looking up into the cloudy sky. Fuu and Rai were off to the side, whispering to each other. Pence stood by himself, munching away at the remains of a sea salt ice cream. I took another glance at Seifer, expecting him to look impatient and pissed that we were so late. Instead, he seemed to be just…distant. I had a feeling that was about to change. Olette and Roxas were silent as we walked up to them. Both Fuu and Rai stopped murmuring to each other when they spotted us first and looked at us, Seifer turning his attention to us as well. More specifically: me. I tried to ignore the butterflies that fluttered around in my stomach at the sight of those blue eyes that were focused on me, cursing him in my head for turning me into this.

"You're fucking late." was the first thing that popped out his mouth.

My butterflies for him vanished, replaced by irritation. "Shove it, Almasy."

He seemed to ignore my comment and looked to Roxas, who now stood by my side. I could tell he was mentally rolling his eyes, but didn't say anything. Olette grabbed my arm and smiled at me, giving me moral support. Or she was trying to hold me back from punching Seifer.

"Quit making goo-goo eyes with your girlfriend." Seifer sneered.

"She's not my girlfriend!" I shot back, glaring at him.

Roxas stepped in before anything big started up. "So why did you call us here again?" he asked Seifer.

His attention shifted over to my best friend, and I struggled to squash the instant jealously I felt. I knew Roxas was only making sure we didn't kill each other, but I was envious that Seifer acted like it okay to treat me like this, yet was friendly to everyone else. It only made it more painfully obvious that he hated me.

"Fuu came to check up on the place, and she came across a…problem of sorts. Seeing as you're the only ones who would come help, we called you. Even Fuu is stumped on this one." Seifer explained, waving at hand at the gates.

"What kind of problem are we looking at, exactly?" I asked curiously.

Blue eyes went back to me, and I stiffened at the clear enmity in them. I regretted having spoken in the first place, but stood my ground. What had I done to him to make him react like this every time? Seifer was quiet for a moment, as if pondering whether or not he should tell me. Finally, though, he gave us all an answer.

"This." he said, spinning dramatically on his heel and performing a high kick at the gates.

Olette and Pence gasped in unison as the old gates – the ones that had never been opened before – swung wide open, the lock on it sliding off and falling to the ground with a muted clunk. I gaped at the sight, and Olette put a hand to her mouth in shock, her emerald eyes wide. A couple minutes of silence passed by, all of us gazing in wonder at something we thought would never happen.

The gates of the Haunted Mansion had been locked for as long as I can remember, and nothing could open it. And now…

"Who opened it?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"We don't know. Fuu came in here and found it like that. Whoever it was, they opened this without any trouble…and still might be in there." Seifer replied, glaring at me.

"Can we go in?" Pence asked excitedly.

Olette squeezed my arm, clinging to me. "I don't think that's such a good idea. It's probably not safe." she said.

I glanced over to Roxas to get his say in all this, then stopped short when I took in the look on his face. He was staring up at the mansion as if it were the plague, his hands curled into fists. But his eyes held a great sadness that I had never seen before, like he had just lost someone precious to him. I touched his shoulder, intending to ask what was wrong, but he jerked at the contact and seemed to snap out of his stupor.

"What the matter with you?" I asked, stepping closer to him.

"I…nothing. I was just thinking about…something." he replied.

I scrutinized him, trying to read his face, but he had closed up on me. My brow furrowed at my friend's reaction to this, but neither of us said anything. Directing my attention back to the others, I saw that Seifer and Pence were discussing whether or not it would be wise to go inside and inspect the place. Fuu was whispering into Rai's ear again, off in their own world.

"Seifer." He glanced over to me, his expression tight. "Let's just go inside and explore the area. If the person is still inside, we should be able to catch him. Then we can interrogate him about how he opened these gates up." I said, nodding towards the mansion.

"Yeah!" Pence cheered, pumping his fist into the air.

"I don't know, man. It could be dangerous, ya' know?" Rai jumped in.

Seifer said nothing in reply to that, but I could tell he was considering both options carefully. Fuu blinked on in silence, waiting for her leader to choose. Seifer looked to her and nodded up at the mansion.

"Well? Think this will be a good or bad idea, Fuu?"

"…not sure." she said, her red eye darting to the gates.

"Come on, let's just go!" Pence begged.

My eyes went to the mansion, its' cracked windows and vines walls giving off an aura of mystery. I gazed to the second story again…and stared, frozen to the spot. There, on the left upper story, was a young girl in a white dress, staring down at us. She seemed to almost blend in with the curtains that hung there, and I could tell she was just…watching us. Then one of the curtains fell over her figure by an invisible wind, but only for a moment. When the curtains had settled again, she was gone.

"No way." I breathed.

"What?" Olette asked me, looking up at the mansion, too.

My eyes never strayed from the window, hoping to catch another glimpse of the mysterious girl. And one question stayed in my head: _Was she the one who opened the gates?_

Pence continued to plead to go inside the mansion, but Olette had rushed into the conversation and whined that it was much too dangerous for us. I, however, wasn't listening to any of them. My eyes were trained solely on that window, wanting to see just another glance of the girl.

"What're you starin' at, Lamer?" Seifer cut in.

I blinked and turned my eyes from the mansion. "Uh…nothing." I lied.

Seifer eyed me, then the mansion. I said nothing at the look I received from him, nor did I care at the moment. When he had turned his head away, my eyes wandered back to the second story…and there she was.

She stayed there, her hand pressed to the glass, gazing at us. I didn't dare blink, afraid she would vanish if I did. _She knows something. I know she does,_ I thought. I had to go inside that mansion, haunted or not, and find that girl.

"Lamer! Where the hell do you think you're goin'?" Seifer shouted after me as I walked through the gates.

"I'm going inside." I replied over my shoulder.

"And why are you suddenly the leader?" he said in a snarky tone.

"Shut up and just trust me on this, Almasy."

Silence ensued behind me, but I didn't pause to look back. I took in the area of the front of the mansion, seeing as I was finally able to see everything up close. There were crumbled pillars, simple ruins of something that had been great at one point, ivy covering them. The worn walls of the mansion were webbed with vines, but still looked sturdy enough to stay up for a couple more years.

When I stepped up to the double doors of the mansion, I hesitated. A small part of me was unsure of all this, was warning me that this could be a trap of some sort. I had no clue what to expect if I opened these doors and set foot in this place. I reached out and took the handle of the right door, then pulled. It fought against me for a moment, then finally gave way. It creaked loudly as it scrapped the ground, echoing inside the mansion.

I walked in, my eyes adjusting to the darkness of the place. For the most part, the mansion was empty. The only thing I really saw was dust covering everything, from the two opposite staircases to the floor. No furniture, no plants, not even graffiti; this place was devoid of any life.

"Well, big shot? Where to first?"

I jumped at the sound of Seifer's voice right behind me, spinning around to find that they had all followed me inside, glancing around in wonder. Seifer looked slightly ticked at me, but seemed reserved for the most part. Olette was sticking close to Pence, who seemed to be bouncing around like he had eaten ten sea salt ice creams. Fuu and Rai stayed close together, gazing about the large room. Roxas just seemed…spaced out.

"I don't like the looks of this place. It doesn't seem…" Olette trailed off.

"Safe?" Rai suggested.

"Normal." Seifer cut in, his eyes narrowed. He moved to my side. "You sure about this, Lamer?"

"Come on, let's explore. We need to find the person who got in here, right?" Pence piped up, moving towards the staircase on the left.

Olette bit her lip, holding back a second before following. Seifer and I exchanged looks, and I could tell he still didn't want to do this. Honestly, though, I did. I wanted to know who that girl was, even if she was a possible threat (I doubted that, but it was still a possibility). She could hold answers for all of us, and standing around here wasn't going to get us anywhere.

With a shrug, I went after Pence and Olette, who were talking while ascending up the staircase. I caught of glimpse of Roxas' face as I passed him, and it looked like he had gone deathly pale. His eyes met mine, and I saw fear in them; what was going on with him? I stopped to talk with him, but he instantly clammed up again like last time and averted his eyes from me. I had to find out what was going on with him, too.

Roxas, Fuu, Rai and Seifer walked after me, none of them talking. As I stepped onto the staircase, my heart sped up, as if I had run a mile. Confused at this strange reaction, I looked up to the second floor, where Pence was already standing, Olette beside him. There had to be something or someone here, a clue at the least. I needed to find out what was going on. I began climbing the stairs, the wood creaking underneath my feet. Suddenly, halfway up the stairs, a loud ringing burst into my eardrums, catching me off guard. That's when I heard the step under my feet creak loudly, then snapped and broke. I didn't have time to react or do anything as I fell, the ringing in my ears still going strong.

I didn't expect hands to grab at me, snatching me up. They wrapped around my torso, then set me down. I blinked up at Seifer, who was mere inches from me, looking annoyed. I felt speech leave me as my brain caught up with the situation. I had been in Seifer's – Seifer freakin' Almasy's – arms, had been saved from possible injury or worse by Seifer. He was making it hard to not love him at the moment.

"Are you okay, Hayner!?" Olette cried hysterically.

"I'm fine." I replied, glad to see I had my voice again.

"You sure?" Seifer gave me a look. "You're an idiot for not watching where you were stepping." he added.

"Yeah. Thanks." was all I managed to say.

We continued up the stairs, getting up to the second story without any more problems. But the ringing in my ear was still there, but faint. I wasn't sure why, but Seifer seemed to be keeping an eye on me now, like I was going to drop through the floor any second. Olette jumped into my arms the moment I got upstairs, hugging me tightly and cursing me for scaring her like that. I just smiled and hugged her back.

"Which way?" Fuu spoke up.

We all took in the second story, and saw we had two options to choose from: the left door that was white, or the right door that was farther over.

"There are two doors, ya' know." Rai pointed out the obvious.

"Then let's go…" I paused and glanced back and forth between the two.

"I say we choose neither and go home and forget about this awful place." Olette said, her green eyes darting around.

I looked at the white door on the left again. It looked so odd and out of place; I had a weird feeling about it.

"We should check this place first." I said, pointing to the white one.

"Lead the way." said Fuu.

I began walking in that direction, and was surprised when Seifer, of all people, came up beside me, matching my step. He said nothing, but I felt my heart nearly fly from my chest. It was like we were almost…friends. It was nice.

When we got to the door, Seifer stopped and held his arm out, halting me. I glanced up at him in question, and he frowned at the door, as if it were going to attack.

"Wha-"

"Sh." he whispered, leaning towards the door.

I shut my mouth, straining to hear what he was trying to hear. There was no ringing in my ears anymore, but I could hear nothing. I shoved his arm away from me.

"I don't hear anyt-" The door opened, and we both jumped back. "What the-?!"

"Hello. It's nice to finally meet you all; come in."

* * *

**Well, this is the beginning. Hope you like it better than the previous one, guys! **


	2. Chapter 2

**I hate writers' block. But I'm here now! Yay!**

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts...sadly.**

* * *

I stared at the sight of the young girl – the very same one that I had seen at the window – smile gently at our little group, one hand holding the white door open. Her white dress and platinum blonde hair nearly matched with her pale, flawless skin. Seifer stiffened and shifted closer to me in a protective manner, guarding me. I could only blink in wonder as the girl stepped backward, clearly showing she wasn't a threat of any sort to Seifer.

"Please, come in." she said sweetly, and gestured inside the room.

I brushed past Seifer, who made a grab for my arm, and walked into the room. Instantly, I had to shut my eyes and blink a couple times, my eyesight blinded by the sudden brightness I had stepped into. I waited for my eyes to adjust before looking around the room. There wasn't much, but it was clear someone stayed here a lot. And everything was a bright, pure white; even the walls, the floor, the ceiling. I cringed at the light, but said nothing about it aloud.

There was a lone table adorned with a vase of lilies, a chair at the head of it with a drawing pad and colored pencils scattered around it. Behind the chair was an empty cabinet, the glass frosted over. And throughout the entire room were pictures, strange drawings that covered the walls, lay on the floor and table. I frowned at one that caught my attention, wondering why it looked so familiar. Had it been in one of my dreams?

"Welcome. Please make yourselves comfortable." the girl said, walking past me to sit in the white chair.

I heard the rest of my friends shuffle in, murmuring quietly as they observed the place. I only glanced back and forth between the one picture that had caught my eye and the girl, confused and completely bewildered by this random and odd turn of events. Her lovely eyes turned to the very page I had looked at and a sadness crossed over her face like a shadow. But it passed just as quickly, making me wonder if I had only imagined it.

"Do you like that one?" she asked, nodding to it.

"No. It just…looks like something I've seen before." I replied.

She nodded, but said nothing else on the subject. Her eyes gazed over my shoulder, a smile crawling on her lips once more. I glanced behind me as well, surprised to see Seifer, of all people, sticking close to me. I could see he was giving the stranger a clear message: _Don't try anything or you die on the spot._

"Won't you come relax? Sit down." She waved a hand at the table and smiled at Seifer and I. "I won't try anything, I assure you."

I glanced at the table, then did a double take. _There were no chairs around the table…were there?_ I asked myself in my head. Yet, there they were, all set around the table, waiting. I tried to conceal the suspicion and questions that popped into my mind, taking the chair nearest to me and sitting carefully in it. The girl smiled, her face lighting up. The others hesitated, then followed my lead. Seifer made sure to make a show of pulling out the chair and plopping down into it unceremoniously, the chair creaking in protest at the rude treatment. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"I'm so sorry." The girl stood to her feet, seemingly have ignored Seifer's previous show. "I never introduced myself; forgive me. My name is Namine. Namine Hikari." she said, tilting her head to the side shyly.

"Namine…" I tested it out, the name touching a faint memory somewhere in me. "Have we…met before?"

I didn't miss the way her eyes seemed to dim, but she only shook her head in answer, refusing to reply vocally. My brow furrowed, now confused and even more suspicious. What was she hiding from me? She appeared to know something, but she was keeping it a secret.

"Shall I help you, then?" She sat down and looked around the table. "I know why you're all here." she added.

Seifer moved and leaned forward, now intrigued. I felt my muscles twitch as she avoided my gaze, now ignoring my very presence. Had it been because of my earlier question?

"Explain." Fuu spoke up.

Rai coughed, then seemed to regain his confidence. "Yeah, we're confused and stuff, ya' know?"

"Now, hold on." Namine laughed, putting a hand up to ward off the demands and questions. "Let me speak first, then you may ask any questions you wish. I'll try to answer them as best I can."

I leaned back in my chair, folding my arms over my chest angrily. She was continuing to pretend I didn't exist in the room, even though I was right beside her. Everyone was quiet, waiting for her to speak.

"I've been living in this mansion for a long time, so I really don't get a lot of visitors. But I do have a couple friends who come and go every once in a while." She sighed in exasperation. "One of my friends probably just opened the gate and forgot to close it. He had been in quite a rush to see me. The reason was very important as well, so I was glad he came to me quickly." Her face darkened at the memory of something. "I wasn't much help, of course, but I tried my best. I can only hope I was of use to him." she said quietly, and went quiet.

"…how do they open the gate?" Olette spoke up.

Namine seemed to snap out of it. "Huh?"

"Your friends…how are they able to get the gates to open? Is there some sort of special key?"

"Well…"A quirky grin spread on Namine's lips, as if she had suddenly remembered a funny joke. "Sort of."

"Has anyone talked to you recently that may have opened the gate?" Seifer demanded.

"…yes." She stood to her feet and picked up her notebook, letting the red crayon roll off of it and onto the table with the others. "And he would be glad to meet you all."

"Wait, right now?" Pence piped up.

Namine nodded, tucked the notebook in one arm, and then proceeded to the door. I frowned as she kept her eyes away from me, avoiding eye contact.

"Follow me, please." she said, sounding like an office attendant.

With that, she left the room. I stood to my feet first, my arms still folded over my chest. Fuu and Seifer did the same, their chairs making noise as they were pushed backwards. Everyone in the room exchanged looks in silence, wondering the same question: _Should we go?_

Seifer and I made eye contact and seemed to come to the same conclusion instantly, then walked out together into the hallway, where Namine stood patiently, hugging her notebook to her chest. I heard the sound of the others pushing back their chairs, following after us. Seifer chuckled and nudged my shoulder, grabbing my attention.

"We make a good team… sort of." he finished, snorting.

"…yeah." I didn't dare make another comment, lest I sound like an idiot.

Olette and Pence, then Fuu and Rai walked up behind us, each sticking to each other like glue. My brow furrowed at the sight of Roxas, his shoulders slumped as he stuck in the background, trying his hardest to be invisible. What was his problem?

"Go on ahead." I whispered to Seifer, strolling back to where Roxas stood.

"Got it." Seifer murmured back in agreement, having seen my best friend and his forlorn expression.

While everyone went after Namine and Seifer, I stopped Roxas, who seemed to be barely registering anything. My friend took a step forward, intent on going along with the group, but I grabbed him by the shoulder, forcing him to stop in his tracks. He raised his head, his blue eyes looking glum and depressed.

"Dude…what's the matter with you? You've been acting weird ever since we got here." I shook him by his shoulder a bit in hopes of getting something out of him. "What aren't you telling me?"

"….it's nothing." he muttered under his breath. "I'm just…it's nothing."

I allowed him to push my hand off his shoulder and walk away, going after the others. I turned and watched him, paying attention to the way he was trying to walk upright. His entire body looked like it was being weighed down by each and every step, like the sky had fallen on him. What was bothering him?

"Lamer! Come on!"

"Shove it, Almasy!" I shouted back, racing after them.

* * *

I grimaced at the sight that met me as Namine escorted us into the other door of the second floor, which made Olette squeal in utter delight. She ran into the room without waiting for the rest of us, going to the first bookshelf closest to her and pulling out a random book.

"This is amazing! If I had known there was so much knowledge in here…" She sighed, stroking the book cover lovingly. "This library is wonderful, Namine."

"Thank you. Sadly, I can't take the credit." she giggled.

Fuu curiously ran a finger along one of the shelves, then picked out a book, her red eye lighting up at the sight of a large skeleton head on the cover. Rai and I both winced and turned away, letting her flip through the disturbing book alone.

"Why'd you bring us _here_?" Seifer asked, giving Namine a stern look.

"Because." She moved over to the table that stood in the center of the room. "This is the way to go."

I stepped closer to see what it was that the strange girl was going to do, Seifer doing the same. Fuu and Olette, too busy with their books, kept to themselves. Rai, Pence and Roxas merely stood right in front of the doorway, unsure on what to do.

Namine turned her head towards Seifer and I, finally making eye contact with me again. "Watch closely, Hayner. Things are about to get interesting for you and your little group." she warned.

I leaned closer, unable to turn away now; I _had_ to know what she meant by that. She set her notebook carefully on the table, then whisked aside a couple books from the edge of the table, revealing a golden design of some sort that was etched into the wood. Her pale hands went and opened her notebook up. The first page was of an odd staircase, two people walking up and down it in a confusing way. I didn't dare tear my eyes away as she continued to flip through the notebook, finally settling on the one she had been searching for; the same design, but with an addition to it.

"What the hell…?" I heard Seifer say in my ear. "What's she doing?"

"I don't know…"

We watched as she put the notebook beside the table design and took a yellow crayon from out of nowhere, then bent over the table and began to draw. Bewildered now, I walked up to her and angled my head to where I could see what she was doing…and stared.

"Is she drawing on the table?" Seifer questioned, though it was obvious she was. "What the hell is wrong with her?"

"This is getting weird, Seif'." I answered.

Suddenly, things got a whole lot weirder.

Namine stepped back from the table with a satisfied smile, dropping the crayon on top of her notebook. I looked to see she had copied the version of her notebook drawing onto the table, adding another design to it. Seifer touched my arm, as if about to pull me away.

"I don't like this, Hay-"

Before I got to hear him say my actual name, the table started to glow brightly. It almost was like the sun itself had appeared inside the library, spreading into every nock and cranny of the room. I stumbled away from the brightness, bumping into Seifer. Shielding my eyes with my hands, I twisted my head away in an attempt to not look at the light that was growing bigger and brighter, enveloping the room entirely.

"Wah!" Olette cried, followed by the sound of a book being dropped.

I felt Seifer's hand grip my arm tightly, yanking me backward. I let him pull me away with no complaints. Then, just like that, the light was gone. I groaned and slowly opened my eyes, my vision blinded by black and white spots. Blinking them away, my eyes adjusted after a moment or two. The new sight that met me was something I hadn't expected. At all.

"Um…that wasn't there before…" Pence squeaked out.

"…whoa…" Fuu breathed out, her creepy book forgotten.

The table that had been originally there had vanished, along with the majority of the floor. In its' place was a staircase that led downward into a sunken room, its' blue décor completely out of place. Seifer's hand was a vice on my arm as he took in the new area with a neutral look on his face.

"I don't like this at all. We should leave." His hand tightened. "_Now._"

"_Ow!_" I shoved him away. "Knock it off! That hurt!" I hissed, trying to keep quiet.

"I have a bad feeling about this. We need to get out of here, all of us." he insisted, getting in my face.

Before I could reply to that, Namine coughed politely, interrupting my retort.

"Um…is everything alright?" she asked, looking back and forth between the two of us.

I scooted away, now slightly embarrassed. "Yeah, it's fine."

She giggled and turned her attention to the rest of the group, who were all huddled up against the bookshelves, quivering in fear and shock.

"How…how did you even _do_ that?!" Pence choked out.

Namine was quiet for a moment, then smiled widely. I felt a shiver run down my spine, flinching at the expression.

"Magic." she said in a serious tone.

Seifer made a small sound of disgust, catching my attention again. His eyes were narrowed, glaring furiously at Namine, his mouth twisted into a sneer.

"If you'll all follow m-"

"Why should we?" Seifer cut in, interrupting her. All eyes in the room went to him. "We know nothing about you; you're a stranger. Why should we trust you?" he pointed out.

Namine's face had changed into an expressionless mask, her blue eyes now steel.

"Sei-" I began to stop him, but he cut me off.

"You've been suspicious and weird ever since we came here. What's going on?"

Namine took a deep breath, as if to calm herself, then turned and began walking down the stairs to the sunken room she had made appear. Seifer's hands curled into fists, obviously wanting nothing more than to punch the pale stranger in her pretty face. I knew he would never do it, but I had never seen him even _want_ to hurt a female. I was regretting, now, walking into this mansion.

"I'll reveal everything in due time, Seifer. Now if you would please follow me." She paused at the last step, her back stiff. "But I'm afraid I can't allow you, Pence and Olette, to venture down with us. It would be much too dangerous." She glanced over her shoulder. "Forgive me." she whispered, and flickered her hand behind her.

Seifer immediately shoved me behind him, making me trip over my own feet and tumble to the ground. There was another bright light, then silence. I groaned and blinked rapidly, trying to get my eye sight back. When I did, however, I was met with a very unexpected scene.

"Whoa! What the hell-?!" Rai gasped out, taking a step back.

"…magic…" Fuu muttered, her red eye gazing down at Namine.

I stumbled to my feet, shock coursing through me as my eyes locked onto Pence and Olette, their bodies in a frozen state, eyes wide and unblinking. Olette's mouth was half-opened, as if she had been about to speak, her green eyes glazed. Pence's leg was behind him, hands up in a gesture that showed he was trying to evade from danger. My heart twisted at this, at the cruelty my poor friends had taken, anger sweeping through me. I spun around and nearly stormed down the stairs to smack the girl who had done this. I had never thought of hitting a girl, but when you involve my friends…

"What. Did. You. _Do?_" I snapped at her.

"I merely stopped them from coming with us. It's for their own good, Hayner." Namine replied calmly.

I made a move to race to where she was, but Seifer reached out and caught my wrist, yanking me back to him and holding my wrist tightly with one hand. I tried to squirm away, but his hand only tightened in warning, sending me a glare that got me to stop. Sullen, I gazed back to my two friends, where Roxas now stood, staring sadly at the statue-like beings.

"This happened to you guys again…I'm sorry." I heard him whisper.

Surprised now, my body went slack. Had I heard wrong?

"Roxas…?" I felt Seifer squeeze my wrist in warning again, but I ignored it. "Roxas, what are you talking about? What do mean 'again'?"

He didn't answer me, but his saddened blue eyes spoke enough; something similar had happened to Olette and Pence, with Roxas to witness it. _Why didn't he tell me? Or at least tried to explain that something weird has been going? How _long_ has this been going on to begin with?_

"Come. We must hurry." Namine interrupted.

We all exchanged looks, now more wary than ever before. Roxas stepped away from Olette and Pence, brushing Pence's shoulder with a hand before he went and started down the stairs to where Namine waited.

"Seifer…?" _I'm even turning to Seifer for advice now._ "Should we…?"

His blue eyes were already calculating the possibilities and dangers in his head, a frown marring his face. Did he want to risk it? His hand on my wrist tightened briefly, then released me. I could see that he had made marks where his fingers had been, leaving red lines along my entire wrist. I rubbed them idly, waiting for his response. Fuu and Rai walked over to us, waiting for their leader to guide them.

"We go." Seifer finalized after a couple minutes. My heart jolted at the thought. "But we watch each other's backs. Roxas seems to be off in his own world, so I won't exactly count on him to be of any help. Fuu," She stood straighter at the sound of her leader, her red eye glowing. "You'll be my eye, seeing as you're the most observant. Rai, you're gonna be Fuu's bodyguard. Watch her back." He turned to me, blue eyes dark. "You're going to stay with me. I have a bad feeling in my gut…and it's telling me you shouldn't be anywhere near it."

"Hayner? Seifer? Are you guys coming?" Namine called up to us.

"Just a minute, damnit!" Seifer shouted back, then turned back to me. "I don't care what your pride is thinking, Hayner; something weird is happening and it isn't good. So, whether you like it or not, I'm going to be protecting you. Got that?"

"…fine." I curtly replied.

He smirked slightly and pinched my cheek, which I batted away with my hand. I didn't like having my own crush being my protector when I was quite capable of taking care of myself, but Seifer seemed to not care; he was dead-set on being my bodyguard, no matter what.

"Come on, Lamer." he chuckled.

I frowned as he walked past me and went down the stairs, Fuu and Rai following behind him. With a groan, I went after them, wishing that I had stayed in the Usual Place to sleep.

Walking down the stairs, I saw Namine and Roxas, both standing apart. Roxas was in his thoughts again, looking down at the ground. Namine had her eyes on the rest of us, her face expression neutral. I wondered what she was thinking at a time like this, where she had to try and gain a bunch of people's trust, even when she didn't know them.

_But she knew your name, even when you didn't tell her what it was. She knew all of your names, in fact._ The little voice in the back of my head made a good point.

I stopped mid-step, one foot in front of the other, as I took in the information that had just occurred to me. Namine_ had_ known our names, long before we even said them to her. How had she possibly figured that out?

_There's something she isn't tell you guys, isn't there? She's hiding something important from all of you. She shouldn't be trusted at all. She's going to get you all killed. _That voice sounded sinister now. _Namine doesn't deserve to have your trust. _

I could feel Seifer's eyes on me, questioning my sudden change in moods. I quickly regained my senses and walked down the remaining stairs, joining the rest of the group. Seifer glanced at me, his eyes asking what was up, but I merely shook my head. I didn't need to be explaining that a random voice was popping into my head and speaking to me, nor did I want to talk about what said voice had spoken of, either. Especially if Namine, who was the subject of it all, was standing right there for her to hear.

"Come on. And make sure you don't touch anything." she warned.

As our guide once more, she walked over to the single door that waited for us, its' blue, glowing pattern lighting up at her touch. It slid open silently. Namine walked inside with Roxas right behind her. The rest of us went in single file, with Seifer in front of me and Fuu behind me, Rai last. When we all were inside the room, we spread out and examined the new area we had been led into. The door we had entered closed just as silently as before.

"Here's the computer room. Not much of a computer _left_, but it's a good enough room. I'm planning on getting the computer fixed, but I know it'll take time." Namine explained, gesturing to a demolished machine in the corner of the room.

I stared at the broken screens, the destroyed keyboard and the electrical cords that lay ripped around the floor, sparking. Who or whatever had done this had made sure it wasn't going to be used anymore. Namine sighed.

"Sadly, I can't get near it without risk of being electrocuted." Her eyes went to Roxas, who looked…guilty? "But whoever did this must have had a good reason to break this."

Seifer sneered and made sure that I was behind him. What was he getting all protective for?

"What's the point of showing this to us?" he grumbled.

"Not much of a point, actually. I just thought I could give you a mini tour of this place. Come on, then."

She walked to the right side of the room, us going along with her like a bunch of kids playing Follow the Leader. Another door was there, its' alien glow brighter here. Was there a light switch or something?

"Be on your guard, got it?" Seifer murmured to me over his shoulder.

"Got it." I said, though I didn't want to be told what to do.

The door opened just as quietly as the first. Namine strolled into the next room, and we filed in after her. However, the moment we did, a voice spoke up. Someone I had never heard before.

"Hey, Roxas. Miss me?"

* * *

**Just...SQUEE~**


End file.
